The impact of NAFTA on Mexico

Fifteen years after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed, the New York Times once again has a great article for NUIM Geography students.

A rare sight? A post-NAFTA campesino

Lots of students from many classes in our department will find interesting insights in the article. There’s the case of declining Mexican exports to the US, partly because of the US recession but also because China is now out-competing Mexican firms. And then there’s the case of Mexico’s disappearing farmers (many of whom move to the cities or even to the US) who cannot compete with imported corn from the US. More generally, there’s just the overriding sense that NAFTA hasn’t delivered on the promise “to export goods, not people.”